It certainly ought to be uncontroversial to suggest that the general arc of progress tends upward, and that software is no exception. That has been a constant refrain for millenia.

Saying that they lacked imagination is diminuitive and self-serving but certainly we can do better than those who came before us, and those who come after us will do better than us.

Is that supposed to be a quote from the article? 'cause I can't find it.